It was bottom in a survey of the 50 airlines that use London’s busiest airport most frequently. The Israeli airline El Al was ranked second from bottom in the “Fly Quiet” table, which was released by Heathrow today.

Short-haul British Airways flights were the best performing, according to the study, with Virgin Atlantic's domestic service - Little Red - in second place.

The table covers the period from July to September this year. Airport authorities plan to publish a similar league table every three months.

Heathrow is the first British airport to “name and shame” airlines in this way.

Matt Gorman of Heathrow, said: “The launch of the Fly Quiet programme signals our firm commitment to being transparent about aircraft noise and our progress in reducing its impact on local communities.”

John Stewart, of the noise campaign group HACAN, welcomed the publication of the tables, calling it “a constructive move to improve the noise climate.”

Six criteria were applied to the airlines assessed in the table:

1. Noise efficiency – a calculation designed to take into account of the greater number of passengers carried by larger, noisier aircraft